Moves to remove top Hall County administrators began after the three commissioners involved in the shake-up feared a leak to the media from Gov.-elect Nathan Deal's office.

"We felt we knew it was getting out and we felt like we owed it the people that were being (fired)," said newly sworn-in Hall County Commissioner Craig Lutz this morning. "We felt we owed them a conversation before they read it in the paper."

County Administrator Charley Nix resigned around 3 p.m. Wednesday and left the office with his personal belongings by 3:30 p.m. Assistant County Administrator Phil Sutton and County Attorney Bill Blalock followed an hour later.

Finance Director Michaela Thompson was expected to leave this morning.

Lutz said he doesn't know for certain how the news broke about the firings, "but I do know the first call we got was from (Philip) Wilheit, asking us to confirm a rumor he heard that we were replacing Charley Nix with Jock Connell.

"That's where it came from. That's why we decided we had to act," Lutz said. "And really, we didn't act. We just want to make sure we notified the affected people before the press did."

Wilheit, president and managing partner of Wilheit Packaging Materials, was Deal's campaign manager and now serves as a transition vice chairman. Jock Connell, who stepped down as Gwinnett County administrator at the end of 2009, is expected to be appointed to Nix's position for six months and will hold all of the official duties of a county administrator.

"I'm a little bit disappointed in Craig that he would make those assumptions about me without any further knowledge or proof," Wilheit said this afternoon. "That is absolutely not the truth."

He did say that he heard rumblings about the shake-up. He called Commissioners Scott Gibbs and Ashley Bell, who have joined together in the matter, to confirm "that was what was going on."

"I talked to both of them about that, and they told me what they were doing," Wilheit said. "... I didn't call anyone at the newspaper."

As for Thompson, her status wasn't immediately known. Lutz said Gibbs, also beginning his first four-year term, was supposed to talk with her, but he couldn't be reached for comment.

"I don't know where Michaela is," Commission Chairman Tom Oliver said. "They terminated her. They turned off her computer (Tuesday)."

Bell also couldn't be reached for comment.